March 13, 2009 | By Michael McCormack

NEW ORLEANS -- The fifth installment of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary's annual Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum in Faith and Culture will address the issue of religious pluralism. The March 27-28 event will feature scholars Paul F. Knitter and Harold A. Netland in dialogue and will coincide with a special meeting of the Evangelical Philosophical Society.

Knitter and Netland will dialogue Friday, March 27, at 7 p.m., with on-site registration starting at 6 p.m. Then, on Saturday, March 28, scholars including Paul Copan, Millard Erickson and Terrence Tilley will present papers with Knitter and Netland responding afterward.

The event is free for NOBTS students, faculty and staff members who register online by Monday, March 22. After that, NOBTS students, faculty and staff members must pay $5 to register.

Non-NOBTS registration for the event ranges from $10 to $20 until Monday, March 22. After that, registration will increase $5. Participants can register online at www.greer-heard.comor at the door March 27.

Dr. Robert B. Stewart, who directs both the Greer-Heard Forum and the Institute for Christian Apologetics at New Orleans Seminary (NOBTS), said the topic of pluralism is quite timely.

"The world is shrinking," Stewart said. "The question of the relationship between Christianity and other religions is no longer an abstract question. It is one that anyone has to deal with. For this reason, this issue is especially important for missionary religions like Christianity or Islam."

And Stewart said the issue of pluralism quickly becomes personal.

"This question takes on a very personal connotation for almost all of us as we have friends, coworkers, classmates, employees and others about whom we have to ask the question: Where do they stand in God's eyes?" Stewart said. "Exactly what is our responsibility to them based on what we believe about God and salvation?"

Team that concern with Western culture's pressure to place all religions on equal footing, and the topic of pluralism stands out even more.

Both scholars who will dialogue at this year's Greer-Heard Forum are well-acquainted with the topic of pluralism.

Knitter is the Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture at Union Theological Seminary in New York, N.Y. Knitter's expertise in interfaith dialogue originates from his days as a seminarian in Rome in the mid-1960s.

While a student at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Knitter witnessed the Second Vatican Council firsthand as the Roman Catholic Church wrestled with its attitude toward other religions. His books on the subject include No Other Name?, One Earth Many Religions, and Jesus and the Other Names.

Netland, professor of philosophy of religion and intercultural studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Ill., is a former missionary to Japan with the Evangelical Free Church of America. He earned master's and doctoral degrees from Claremont Graduate School, where he studied under theologian John Hick. Netland's books include Dissonant Voices, Encountering Religious Pluralism and Globalizing Theology.

Both Knitter and Netland bring extensive experience to the discussion of pluralism. They also bring friendship.

"Knitter and Netland are friends and are able to engage each other on these issues without compromise or rancor," Stewart said.

The honest, kind-spirited conversation sure to occur between Knitter and Netland at the upcoming Greer-Heard Forum illustrates the Forum's commitment to fostering fair-minded conversation on important issues of faith and culture.

"Too often, public discourse on the sort of issues that Greer-Heard deals with is shrill in tone and piecemeal in content," Stewart said. "Our goal therefore is to give these issues legitimate expression and to do so in a public forum on a level playing field."

Established in 2005 through a major gift by Businessman Bill Heard and his wife Carolyn Greer Heard, the forum is hosted by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, a conservative, evangelical theological institution, and yet the Forum presents both evangelical and non-evangelical sides of an argument. Forum leaders believe honest, balanced conversation is the best way to gain mutual understanding.

"We need to hear the best arguments for and against a position in order to be truly honoring to God and to use our minds for his glory," Stewart said. "So Greer-Heard educates both sides of the aisle and presents a fair-minded case for both views."

A special meeting of the Evangelical Philosophical Society (EPS) will coincide with the Greer-Heard Forum. The EPS meeting will focus on "Salvation and the Justice of God" and will feature theologians like Paul Copan, Jeremy Evans and Millard Erickson. A separate registration of $5 is necessary to attend EPS.

The Greer-Heard Forum is an annual event hosted by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The Forum is just part of apologetics lineup offered by the seminary. NOBTS also offers the Institute for Christian Apologetics, which hosts apologetics training both in New Orleans and throughout the Southeast.

For more information about Greer-Heard, go to www.greer-heard.com. To learn more about the Institute for Christian Apologetics, go online to www.nobtsapologetics.com.

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